Nursing homes fined for residents' deaths, care lapses

Kate Farrish, Conn. Health I-Team Writer

The state Department of Public Health has fined a dozen nursing homes in recent months for lapses in patient care, including the deaths of residents at homes in Bridgeport and Norwalk.

Bridgeport Manor in Bridgeport was fined $1,440 in December for failing to provide a resident with psychiatric services and adequate supervision, DPH records show. The resident was frequently observed playing with privacy curtains at the home. On Nov. 27, 2012, the resident was found with a privacy curtain wrapped around the neck and upper body and died two days later.

In February, Paradigm Healthcare Center of Norwalk was fined $1,230 in connection with the case of a mentally ill resident who choked on food that had been left on a tray on Dec. 7, 2012. The resident had "copious amounts of food obstructing the airway," sustained a brain injury and went into cardiac arrest, records show. The resident died a week later when life support was discontinued, DPH records show.

Jonathan Neagle, a court-appointed receiver, said the home was under state receivership when the incident happened. "This accident clearly was an accident, and all the policies and procedures in place have been reinforced to prevent any further incidents,'' he said.

Bridgeport Manor officials for Bridgeport Manor could not be reached for comment.

Among other citations, according to DPH records, was one issued to Bayview Health Care in Waterford. Bayview was fined $1,020 in January for a November 2012 incident in which a nurse's aide shoved a washcloth in the mouth of a resident with dementia and pinched the resident's nose three times. That aide was fired, along with another aide who witnessed the incident but did not intervene out of fear of retaliation from the first aide.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (www.c-hit.org).